The App State Wellness Center hosted an open house on Friday for their new lounge area dedicated to helping App State students address addiction in any form that it may take.
The new Mountaineer Recovery Center is in the Miles Annas Student Services Building, where students living with any sort of addiction can go to seek help.
“We understand that it can be hard for people suffering from addiction to seek help within these kinds of communities,” said counselor Ben Asma. “We hope that, if anything, this recovery center can spread awareness to those people that they aren’t alone.”
With preparations for the lounge starting during the Fall 2023 semester, the area is ready for student use.
With several common areas, some private rooms for counseling and even a gaming room just left of the front desk, students from all walks of life are welcome to use the area in whatever way they see fit.
The addition of an addiction recovery center to App State’s Boone campus comes at a time when deaths from drug addiction are on the rise among North Carolina residents. According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, “an average of nine North Carolinians died each day from a drug overdose” as of 2020.
Asma said App State Wellness hopes this new recovery center will help reduce that number among App State students.
The Mountaineer Recovery Center aims to address addictions of all kinds, regardless of how those addictions may appear.
“We want people to understand that addiction is a lot more than people sometimes think,” said Jordan Kessler, another counselor responsible for putting together the new recovery center. “Addiction can take many forms, including gambling, shopping, or even pornography. Anyone who suffers from any kind of addiction is welcome here.”
Kessler outlined the process of engaging with the recovery center to make it accessible for all students. To start, all one needs to do is fill out an interest form in the lobby, consent to email communication and then a counselor can begin working to set up an appointment.
One aspect of the Mountaineer Recovery Center that both Asma and Kessler highlighted was their desire to form a community for those suffering from addiction using this new lounge.
“We really want this new lounge to serve as a place for connection for addiction survivors,” Asma said. “Once they’re connected to that community, they’ll know that community is there to walk the path of recovery with them.”
Students can find the Mountaineer Recovery Center in the student services building, just past the entrance to the App State Post Office. Once there, students can begin their journey to recovery with the support of an entire community to encourage them along the way.
